There are a few toys I distinctly remember getting as a kid, and one of them was Orko. I don’t remember where we found him, but I know we brought him back to my grandparents’ house on Burton Terrace, where I revved up his ripcord on the coffee table and sent him spinning around.

Even as a kid, I recognized the fact that most of the original MOTU figures didn’t look a whole lot like their cartoon counterparts. He-Man was far more muscled, and his face didn’t look anything like the friendly Filmation character. Orko, however, actually looked like his cartoon counterpart (no, not as much as the new one, but to a degree that was about standard for toys at the time). There was something really appealing about that.

It’s interesting that Mattel chose to pair Orko with Prince Adam, because I’ve always felt the same way about both figures: they’re interesting to me because they’re “story” characters whose toys were inspired by the cartoon, rather than the other way around. To me, Orko and Prince Adam made the cartoon more real in a way a lot of the other figures didn’t.

Some fans dislike Orko, some fans out-and-out hate him as representing the more childish aspects of their favorite franchise (which, just to remind you, is called “He-Man”). Others dislike Adam for similar reasons, preferring a more barbaric He-Man who never transmogrifies into the weak, Clark Kent-like Adam.

I love them both.

As everyone knows by now, Orko and Prince Adam were this year’s major MOTUC SDCC exclusive (alongside Mo-Larr). The Orko sold at the show had a “color change” feature, turning him clear when dipped in water. It was a nice gimmick, hurt only by the fact that Orko himself looked translucent when not dipped in water. I suspect most fans who got the color-change version still wanted the regular one. The set sold for $25, plus shipping from Mattycollector.

Packaging: The packaging for Orko is in the same style as the rest of MOTUC boxes, but larger so as to accommodate Adam at the bottom of the box. He’s hidden completely out of sight, confounding MOC collectors; this is because he’s intended to be an “accessory.” While the whole “accessory” conceit is cute, I do think Mattel should have just put Adam front and center and made Orko the accessory. Adam was still the big statue at the Mattel booth at SDCC, not Orko.

Design & Sculpt: The Horsemen’s Millennium Orko was…a little weird. He was largely pre-posed, and he was very tall (which may not have been the Horsemen’s fault–Mattel futzed with the scale on that entire line, what with the tiny Trap Jaw and small Beast Man and so forth). The big medallion on the Millennium Orko’s chest, combined with his hunched pose, made him look a bit like a rapper in the middle of busting a rhyme.

The MOTUC Orko is much more classic in its look. However the rights issues were worked out, this is basically a Filmation Orko. He’s finally in the right scale–about 2 ½ MOTUC heads tall. His sculpt isn’t too complex, but it’s another job well done for the Horsemen.

Prince Adam’s new parts include a pliable red vest and the “smirking” head. The vest is loose enough to allow Prince Adam’s ab joint to work, and it’s fantastic not to have to worry about keeping track of a little black belt or a yellow cloth buckle. The smirking head offers just the right touch of that “naughty playboy” look.

Orko’s head is removable; the bandanna is a separate piece that fits beneath it. He plugs into a clear base with a ball-and-socket joint, allowing him a good variety of “floating” poses. And yes, you can swap his head with other MOTUC figures, to damned creepy effect.

Update: One thing I forgot to mention–the glaring omission of a sword holster on Adam’s back. This was apparently a design decision by the Four Horsemen, and I don’t know their reasons for it. There might be a good reason. But I will say I wish he had a holster on his back–at the very least, to provide some symmetry with Adora.

Plastic & Paint: Orko’s robe is made from pliable plastic, which is just the right feel for the figure.

There aren’t a lot of paint applications on Orko. The eyes are OK, and the “O” is tampographed on well. The orange chosen for the hat is a bit brighter than I would have gone with. However, the ears are painted very unevenly where they meet the hat. This showed up on the preview samples and Mattel promised they’d be fixed on the production samples; obviously, this isn’t the case. (What year is this again? 2010? What year did Mandarin Spawn come out? 1998?)

Prince Adam features his stylish purple tights and dark purple boots, as well as silver “Tri-Klops” gauntlets. The paint applications on him are fairly neat and clean, with little or no slop.

Articulation: Orko has the aforementioned “ball joint” where he plugs into the stand, a ball jointed head (which moves independently of the bandanna), ball-and-hinge shoulders, hinged elbows that also swivel (to make up for the lack of a biceps swivel), and swivel wrists. It’s all the articulation he needs, and allows for plenty of posing.

Adam has the standard MOTUC articulation: ball joints at the head and shoulders, ball-and-hinge joints at the hips, hinges at the elbows, knees, ankles and abdomen, swivels at the biceps, wrists, upper thighs and top of the boots, and “rocker” ankles.

However, Adam ends my epic run of MOTUC figures with at least one tight ankle joint. Both my Adam’s ankles are fairly loose, and one is very loose. The loose-ankle issue has become the (ahem) Achilles’ heel of MOTUC, and some fans are calling for the joint to be removed altogether. Personally I think that’s one of those “then the terrorists have won” sort of situations–there is no excuse for such an ongoing QC issue, and no reason we should have to sacrifice articulation just to resolve it. Unfortunately, we know from experience (see: DCUC) that Mattel is very, very slow to address QC problems in their factories.

Accessories: Orko comes with his wand (a Classics-ized version of his Millennium wand) and a spell book. Prince Adam comes with the magenta sword and the magenta half-sword, as well as an extra “regular” He-Man head.

The wand fits pretty well in Orko’s hand, though it’s a little loose. But he can’t really hold the spell book without bending the fingers back–the same goes for Adam. Orko can tuck it under his arm, though.

Does anyone like all the extra half-swords? They’re almost more like a collectible than an actual accessory at this point. I’m glad we got them with He-Man and Skeletor, but getting all these other half-swords just seems like a waste of plastic. I suppose Mattel felt they had to justify tooling the half-swords in the first place by reusing the mold over and over.

Overall: Both of these figures were favorites of mine as a kid. I love Orko; I think he came out well, despite the ears issue, and the ball-jointed stand was a great idea. I’m not quite as enamored of Prince Adam, though his smirking head is a great bonus.

When compared to the standard $20 for a MOTUC figure, this set is a fairly good deal; you get both a full figure and a good-sized, iconic character, plus five accessories. But the QC issues really annoyed me with this set. It’s well past time for Mattel to deal with these issues and get their factories to produce runs of figures where loose ankles and sloppy paint are the exception, not the rule.

Comments now closed (39)

It was well worth the agony getting Orko and Adam a few weeks ago; but I think the idea of getting rid of the ankle joints is crazy! Mattel's been aware of it from the start so I'm not sure why it's taken almost 2 years to begin addressing it. In fact, it seems to be getting worse. My first figures were Tri-klops and Webstor who stood fine (I resisted for a long time because the QC on the first figures was odd and the website seemed insane). It wasn't until I got the reissue He-man that he basically flopped on the floor when I tried to stand him. Has anyone noticed that one of Trap Jaw's ankles has a deeper joint cut then the other? He stands fine despite that, along with most of the evil warriors and the females (excluding She-ra anyway). For a line that's almost $30 per figure I'd like to think we could straighten out the paint and ankles.

Also my Adam's smirking head came out kind of odd. It looks like the paint ran so his left eye is kind of sagging. Adora's got kind of a lazy eye so I guess they kind of match though.

Both of mine came out of the package pretty oily especially Adam. Anyone else have this issue?

1) My mass market TRU Skeletor and He-Man ankles were all as tight as their other joints, which were perfect. So was the paint. Mission Accomplished, they sucked me in and now I have the whole collection due to bizzare false advertising about the QC.

2) The lack of sword holster is the most glaring oversight in a very well thought out line. I do wish the vest came off for some pink Zodac armor action.

3) The ears are in no way the Horsemen's fault, but in the future, sculpting a more defined line in an area where colors meet may be a good idea so that it's impossible to mess up. It stinks that their hard work ends up sloppy sometimes.

4) No thanks on the half swords. They're only good for making the blade equivalent of a car with the mismatched replacement fender.

5) The Adam statue is amazing! But since it advertised a figure and toyline that sells out regardless…I wonder how much it cost compared to a Grizzlor face, for instance.

Nerd complaints aside, I like the set. I almost wish the spellbook was replaced with an homage to that stupid coin trick.

Loose ankles are definitely the big problem with MOTUC. My Skeletor has to lean back on something or he falls forward right off the shelf. I have a couple others who are pretty bad too. Too slow to address the problems.

Any way to fix loose ankles? Or can I exchange it for a new one? This is the first problem I've had with these figures. Glad to see it mentioned here. While I'm a He-Man barbarian guy, I do have a soft spot for Orko & Adam.

What bothers me most about the loose ankle issue is that it's a total crapshoot. I know MOTUC isn't available at retail, but even if it were, you can't tell a joint will be loose by looking through the package.

My god! I could never figure out what it was about the 200X Orko that didn't sit well with me and you nailed it! He really DOES look like a rapper in mid-rhyme. That medallion reminds me of Flava Flav's clock around the neck. *shudder*

My 200x Orko sits right next to my monitor on my desk at work. I think he is probably one of my favorite, if not my favorite, 200x redesign. He actually looks like somewhat of a combatant and definitely has the vibe of a black mage from Final Fantasy.

I like the MOTUC Orko figure, but my 200x is still my favorite and default Orko.

Being largely a MOC collector, this set is a bit of a PITA, but I grabbed it anyway. And you are right about all the silly half-swords, but i'm not sure about a scabbard on Adam's back. My memory of the Filmation cartoon is foggy (and I wasn't a minicomic reader), but I don't remember seeing one on him in the show. It struck me as odd to see this fellow whip a giant sword apparently out of nowhere to become He-Man. A bit like the Highlander. But I accepted it, and just assumed this toy was paying homage to that idea.

1. The loose ankles are the biggest problem with this line. Almost every figure I've gotten this year except for the women have loose ankles. I had not problem the first year. It started with the reissue Skeletor, and from then on it's happened.

2. The lack of a sword holster on Adam is a colossal failure. Design choice or not by the Horsemen, they messed up royally. They should release him carded with Orko as the accessory with the added sword holder.

3. Holy crap. 200x Orko does look like a lame hip hop rapper doesn't he? I never made the connection before. I can't get that image out of my head now.

4. The half swords need to go away. They are not only a wast of plastic, but they don't work. I superglued my Keldor ones. Then aren't they giving us the half blue/silver sword with Vikor instead of a whole one?

@misterbigbo: I can recall a few moments when he did have the sheath on his back, mainly in episodes where Adam did a lot of the action because He-Man wasn't necessarily needed quite yet. It was one of those animation errors where it would appear in one scene and disappear in the next same as with He-Man's sheath. But yeah, most of the time he was pulling it out of nowhere.

I kinda like to think the Power Sword was hidden in a mystical subspace pocket micro-dimension on Adam's back. Something the Sorceress cooked up to both protect the sword and Adam's identity.

I really liked the 200X Orko figure. It had a kind of old/wise man look to it which made Orko seem more akin to a powerful wizard like Gandalf or Merlin rather than a comedy character. But the MOTUC Orko is okay.

I'm looking forward to adding Prince Adam to my collection moreso than Orko, but I do wish he had a sword holder/holster and that he'd come with a "full" silver sword rather than the "half" pink sword. I dislike the fact that He-Man, She-Ra, Adam and Adora all have different swords in different sculpts, different colours, etc. I just want a set of "matching" two-tone silver swords for all of them (with the addition of a jewel for Adora and She-Ra's swords).

I'm also looking forward to trying out Adam's extra "He-Man" head on my He-Man figure since it is a first release with pink eyes. I do wish the "Adam" head had his hair painted like the Superman/He-Man boxed set which was a lighter colour and would have helped to differentiate the two characters a little more.

@Mysterious Stranger: Sounds similar to the "Negative Space" or whatever is used to explain the shift in mass for Transformers, and where Optimus Prime's trailer goes when he Transforms, but a very plausible theory!

1. The ankles are starting to become a major problem with this line. Ever since I began collecting this line, starting with Tri-Klops, over half of them have at least one loose ankle or both. It’s gotten particularly bad starting with Optikk. All the new figures since him have at best marginally loose ankles. Given the price of these figures (and the fact that this is supposed to be a “collector” line), the quality should be good. It kind of kills my enthusiasm for them when waiting a month (the average time it takes the figures to ship to me in Canada) and realizing they can’t even stand up. As much as I would like to think they will fix this issue, as long as they continue to sell out they aren’t going to give a damn wither or not the figures are good quality.

2. It bugs me when excellent sculpting is ruined by loose joints and bad paint apps.

3. I’d rather they drop the half swords altogether. Every one I’ve ever received has been severely warped, as if someone forced it in (they all have stress marks on them).

Sorry for the long rant. Again great review Poe. Looking forward to your next one.

Great review Poe. Haven't gotten a new MOTUC in what feels like ages. I tried and failed with Trap Jaw, Evil-Lyn, and She-Ra. However, I'm pretty sure I'm getting this along with the reissue of Trap Jaw and maybe Whiplash for my birthday next month. I'm really excited as I loved Orko as a kid. I remember revving him up and watching him go. Speaking of which, anyone think they'll do Dragstor, and doesn't he lose all purpose without the action feature. I'm not a huge proponent of action features, but for characters like Dragstor, and even Ram Man, they seem like the whole reason for the character.

Anyway, back on topic I didn't like the 200x Orko because it looked like he had legs. Orko does not have legs dagnabit.

Great review. I am only a casual MOTUC collector but I love this set (shit paint aside). Adam is cool, but yeah, Orko is win. Hope GB adopts the ball jointed stand.

Ankles are really shit overall. My small MOTUC crowd of 11 topple over regularly.Speaking of ankle QC… my Optikk and Trap Jaw (same legs) have a weird problem where they right foot is loose and has a full range of motion, but their left foot is tight and has no range of motion at all. The shape of the joint is just really shallow on both sides. Weird QC stuff.

I noticed that on Trap Jaw as well. Even if I straighten his legs completely, it still looks like he is leaning to the side. If you don’t mind me asking, does yours lean to the right as well?

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Yes, I've noticed that my Trap Jaw, Kronis, and both my Optikks always look like they are leaning to one side if they are standing straight. I've looked at their legs and they are the same length.It's rather annoying.

See here's the wierd thing. I must be insanely lucky because I have the entire line (save Grayskull and Keldor) and have never run into loose ankles until Adam, Mo-larr, and two pack Skeletor. Opened Whiplash last night and he's plenty sturdy too.

Before I received my Adam and Orko, I was worried after reading all the horror stories, but I was pleasantly surprised. The figures weren't oily at all, and my Prince Adam is probably my tightest jointed figure yet. Orko's ears were the only flaw.

I like the characters and feel like Orko is imporant to the canon/mythos, and I feel they nailed him. Prince Adam's figure is unexciting to me though, and lacks any wow factor. I prefer the 200x version of Adam for the plausibility of disguise/alter ego. Yeah I know I am weird like that; especially for a line featuring Space Pirates and Space Cowboys and talking green tigers and gorillas.

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Poe Ghostal received his first toy, a Mighty Mouse figure, at age three. Thus began a lifelong interest (some might say obsession) with toys. A child of the 1980s, he grew up on Star Wars, He-Man & Transformers toys, as well as more obscure lines such as Power Lords, Robo Force, and Manglors.